You are currently viewing the old forums. We have upgraded to a new NFL Forum. This old forum is being left as a read-only archive.
Please update your bookmarks to our new forum at forums.footballsfuture.com.

Storylines:
The Detroit Lions try to rebound after a tough loss to the 49ers. Matt Stafford needs to step up his game after throwing 4 picks and only 2 TD's in his first two games. Can he fix whatever it is that is causing his inaccuracy? Or will he get off to a slow start again and put our team in a hole early with turnovers?

With 3/4 of our starting CB's out for last weeks game and Florence set to miss some time, will we be able to get healthy enough to field a competent secondary? Or will Jake Locker have nothing but wide-open receivers to throw to?

With Chris Johnson only rushing for 21 yards the past two games, will he continue this downward trend or is he due for a bounce-back game? Will the Lions front 7 be able to contain him ala Steven Jackson, or will he be able to gash us ala Frank Gore?

Will Young Tit finally step up and start to produce like we all expected him to do in the preseason? Or will he continued to be held back by his on-field immaturity and personal fouls?

Fantasy OutlookLions-
Matt Stafford- With Calvin Johnson at your disposal, you would be hard pressed to bench Stafford any time throughout the year. The only way I would bench him is if I picked up RGIII on a late round flyer.

Calvin Johnson- A must start vs any team in any situation. Expect him to finally catch a touchdown and put up a minimum of 80 yards.

Brandon Pettigrew- He has shown a knack for getting open in zone coverage, but lacks YAC ability and his drops can be very problematic for a fantasy owner. Keep him out of your starting lineup, unless you need a solid flex option or you frankly have nobody better.

Lions RB's- With Leshoure coming back from suspension, expect him to take some carries away from Smith. Avoid starting one of these guys if at all possible, but if you have no other options as a flex starter I would go with Smith over Leshoure for this week, although expect Leshoure to start picking up more of the workload as the season goes on.

Lions D- There are better options out there, but the Lions will get to Jake Locker; and if we get part of our secondary back we should be able to force him into some INT's. We still have to stop Chris Johnson, but he is slumping and may not make much of an impact. If they are the only defense you have at your disposal, start them with confidence.

Titans-
Chris Johnson- It would be hard not to start him, because you probably spent a 2nd round pick on him. Considering his slow start to the season, is he due for a big game or will his slump continue? You have to start Johnson, but understand there is risk involved.

Jared Cook- This is an intriguing player. He has the ability to make the big plays, but can Jake Locker get him the ball? The Lions just gave up two touchdowns last week to Vernon Davis, and seem to have a hard time guarding those athletic TE's that move well in space. Boarderline #1/flex option. Start him if you can.

Nate Washington- If the Lions CB's continue to be inactive, he has a chance to have a huge game. Jake Locker's apparent favorite target will also have a favorable matchup if he is lining up against Jacob Lacey. If he is going up against Lacey, he is a solid #2 option. If Houston is healthy, he becomes more of a flex option. If that is the case, only start him if you aren't confident in any other flex options, as Houston will limit his productivity.

Titan's fans are encouraged to stop in and discuss the game with us. Here's to an injury-free game, and a Lion's win _________________

detfan782004 wrote:

diehardlionfan wrote:

When I die I want the Lions to be pallbearers so they can let me down one more time.

I'm excited for Leshoure, also, that picture is awesome._________________
"Strength is meaningless in o-line play if there is no explosive, or speed-strength, quality to the strength."
- LeCharles Bentley

The only concern for me about this game is that we come out flat after an emotional game against SF. If we come out to play than we win this by 10+ imo. Very excited to see Leshoure and how many carries he'll get.

I would like to see some hurry up 2 minute style offense early on. That's when Matt has gotten comfortable and in rhythm. If he comes out struggling early we need to try it IMO.

I agree. I also think we need to figure out a game plan that works for a full 60 minutes and stick to that. Run some seam routes with Scheffler. Push the ball down the field to open up the short-to-intermediate game. I would like to see us run the ball 40-45% of the time. If they play us 7 in the box all game, we should be able to pick them apart if Stafford has his head screwed on straight.

I think some guys in the last GDT were a little too jumpy when saying we need to pass more. You need to run to set up the pass, it keeps the front 7 honest and sets up play action. The 9ers were playing us for the pass, if the Titans do the same expect to see a heavy dose of Leshoure and Smith_________________

detfan782004 wrote:

diehardlionfan wrote:

When I die I want the Lions to be pallbearers so they can let me down one more time.

Lions should win, but with the Titans, you never know when they're gonna actually play well.

Jake Locker has his ups and downs, but he can be dangerous if you don't pay him respect, especially with his legs. The Pats and Chargers have done a good job for the most part when it comes to keeping him in the pocket, I expect the Lions will look to do that a bit.

The offense will look different(and I hope better) than it did last week because Britt will likely play the full game rather than just 20 snaps and Washington should be fully healthy after only playing limited snaps last week, so we were really depleted at WR.

The defense looked terrible to start vs San Diego, but made adjustments and shut down the Chargers for like 6 possessions, but the offense could never get anything going and the defense just became gassed and couldn't keep contain any longer.

We have the worst run blocking offensive line in NFL history, I'm pretty sure. Not even sure what to tell you about CJ, can't judge how good he is when getting hit in the backfield on every play.

I guess what I want to see is whether our defense can play like it did against the Rams, or whether we're going to stink up the joint like against the 49ers. Also, which Stafford are we going to get? The guy that's out there sailing every other throw, throwing behind his receivers, and tossing balls up for grabs, or the guy we saw for most of last year?

I gotta say, I'm worried about Chris Johnson in this one. If he gets the kind of holes that Frank Gore was getting all night on Sunday, he'll put up 200 yards. Jake Locker is a dangerous runner if he's not contained, too, and our line has historically struggled to contain mobile passers like Joe Webb.

All-in-all, this is a game Detroit should win, even going on the road. The Titans have struggled through two weeks, but then again so have we. This is a pretty good opportunity for our offense to get on a roll finally, and hopefully it does just that.